


It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

by Chosenfire



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural
Genre: Christmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-25
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-28 01:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/302455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chosenfire/pseuds/Chosenfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean’s latest case takes them to L.A and Wolfram and Hart’s annual Christmas party. Thing is they’re not the only party crashers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**PART ONE**

 

 _O ye beneath life's crushing load,  
Whose forms are bending low,  
Who toil along the climbing way  
With painful steps and slow;  
Look now, for glad and golden hours  
Come swiftly on the wing;  
Oh rest beside the weary road  
And hear the angels sing.   
_

Dean frowned at his reflection in the mirror, his brows drawn together in displeasure. “Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?” he asked skeptically, tuning to his brother, eyebrows raised and slight disgust in his voice.

“I’m sure.” Sam came out of the bathroom, his hair styled back and his hands coming to rest in the pockets of his black dress pants. They had ditched the suits in favor of semi-formal clothes and Dean had just run the gel through his hair, spiking it extra high before turning to his brother, daring him to say anything.

Sam snorted and started strapping weapons to his body. They had to be more inventive than usual; they didn’t have the worn jeans and bulky coats to conceal the arsenals that they needed in their line of work. The clothes they wore now were tailored, done last minute by a woman who had fallen for Sam’s smile and it would be a bitch not to give anything away.

Sam snapped the holster in place across the stark white t-shirt he wore and slipped the two guns in on either side. He rolled up his sleeves and slipped a knife onto the sheath on his forearm and he tucked another knife in a sheath on his calf. He pulled down his clothes to hide it and grabbed the black jacket slipping it on and buttoning it enough that it stayed together.

The fabric molded to his skin perfectly shaping the muscles and giving him a sophisticated look. Most importantly it made him look like he belonged on the cover of a magazine which was the whole point. It was as much of a disguise as the priests outfits had been.

Just much more expensive and picked because it could give him the fit needed to hide the guns.

Dean was similarly strapped and he had the EMF meter made out of a walkman in his back pocket.

“So what’s the deal with this place?” Dean asked, all humor gone from his voice as he buttoned up the black t-shirt he wore, leaving the top two buttons undone. He grabbed the jacket that Sam had brought back for him from his supply run and his brow furrowed “Dude, this is a sweater.”

“What?” Sam flipped through a few folders on the table, glancing up at his brother “No it’s not. It’s a jacket.”

Dean held it up. “It has a hood. So we’re going to some stuck-up soiree and I’m wearing a sweater. I’ll blend in real nice.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

“It’s a seven hundred dollar Armani sweater. I think you’ll blend fine.”

Dean’s lip curled up as he looked down at the soft fabric in his hand. “And you used a credit card, right? The Alberto Sanchez one?”

A smile slipped on to Sam’s lips and he found the file he was looking for. “Consider it a Christmas present.”

“Huh,” Dean grunted, shaking his head and slipping on the Armani sweater, leaving it unbuttoned for easy access to the gun he had holstered closely to his body. He pulled at the bottom of the sleeves with his fingertips and felt it slide across his skin. Shaking his head, Dean muttered, “Well, I’m not getting you anything.” He grimaced. “You couldn’t have bought me a call girl? Seven hundred dollars and you buy me a sweater that’s just going to get ripped up.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything and even you can take care of clothes.” Sam grinned, knowing his brother was lying about not getting him anything. Dean got him something every year, even when he was at Stanford. Christmas morning of his freshmen year, he had woken up to find a box in front of the door of his dorm room with a note attached that had told him to stay out of the library and to get laid. In the box had been the laptop he still had, something he had needed badly but couldn’t afford because he was on scholarship and working two jobs just to buy food and clothes.

“So,” Sam passed Dean the file he had, telling him, “Wolfram and Hart is a law firm that has always had a reputation of dealing with a more special clientele.”

“Demons,” Dean shot out bluntly, eyes narrowed as he read over the information, flipping through it rapidly.

“Among other things. Anyway, they’ve always represented the bottom of the barrel of the demon world but lately there was been a change in power and there’s a lot of talk of something big going down inside.”

“Big, like they’re closing up shop big.” Dean grinned, waving the file around, already bored with what he had been reading. He had perched himself on top of the hotel table, careful to keep his black pants out of the grease stain from last night’s meal and he considered swinging his legs.

“Big, as in potential end of the world big.”

“Well crap,” Dean huffed, hopping off the table and turning to a random point in the file and pointing to a picture paper clipped there. “So, what’s the deal with this dude?” The guy looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties and had dark hair and very intense eyes.

“That’s the new CEO, the one that’s causing all the problems.” Sam paused before telling his brother, “His name is Angel.”

Right on cue, Dean broke into laughter, bending over slightly to brace his hands on his thighs as he let it out. “Oh God, that’s priceless.” He smirked, straightening. “So, let’s go, Sammy, and take care of Angel cakes. I’m sure it will be real tough.” He snorted, still marveling over the fact that the guy that they were investigating was named Angel.

Sam just followed his brother out the door, keeping his thoughts to himself. From what he knew, just because the guy had a sissy name didn’t mean he would be weak. There was a reason why Angel had been made CEO of the most evil law firm in the world and Sam knew, despite his joking, that Dean would be careful.

 

~*~

 

“I think we’re the only chicks here in pants,” Faith observed as yet another group of high heeled, high hemmed females walked past them with drinks in hand and plastic smiles on their faces.

Buffy grimaced. “Yeah, well, they don’t know how hard it is to fight in a skirt.”

Both she and Faith were dressed in stylish, yet very loose, black dress pants.

“So, there is going to be some fighting?” Dawn asked and instead of worry in her voice, there was simple curiosity. The need to know in advance of what might be going on so that she could prepare. Just another habit she had picked up from Buffy.

Buffy folded her arms, refusing with a smile the flute of champagne that one of the passing waiters offered her. “I hope not but this is an evil law firm and evil and lawyers usually lead to badness.” She scanned the crowd looked for the hosts of the evening. “Badness usually leads to violence and strong language.”

“I’m down with that,” Faith commented, tossing back her drink and setting the glass on one of the passing trays. “Okay, let’s find the vamp and get some answers because there are better things I’d rather be doing,” she said a little testily, pushing her way through the crowd.

Buffy and Dawn followed her and Buffy smiled slightly, telling her sister, “She’s just grumpy because Robin had to stay in Cleveland. Couldn’t have both senior officers deserting the Hellmouth for a party.”

Faith stopped suddenly and Buffy had to catch herself before she plowed over the other Slayer.

“Holy shit.”

“What?”

Buffy peered around her and her body went rigid at what she saw, disbelief in her eyes. Sure, Angel had always caused strong reactions in her but this wasn’t about the dark-haired vampire currently standing to the side of the room, surrounded by a group of people. It was about the other vampire standing beside him. The bleached blond, supposed to be nothing but dust at the bottom of the Sunnydale crater, vampire.

She felt Dawn’s hand on her arm but shrugged it off, striding forward with a tight smile on her lips. “Whoa, that Death just doesn’t have the power that he used to.” She looked from Angel to Spike, eyes sharp. “And I have got to remind Giles to get the phones checked because I obviously missed a very important call.” There was just a touch of anger that bled through her voice.

“Buffy.” Her name sounded more like a curse then the benediction it used to be from Angel’s lips and he buried his hands in his pockets, looking displeased. “What are you doing here?”

She turned away from the stunned look in Spike’s eyes and her lips thinned into a smile. “Didn’t you know? The Watcher’s Council has received an invitation each year to Wolfram and Hart’s Christmas parties.”

“That I reckon they’ve never come to,” Spike gave her a soft smile, “until now.”

Buffy crossed her arms across her chest, shrugging. “We had a reason to.”

“Yeah.” Angel’s voice was dark. “Andrew made it pretty clear when he was here. You don’t trust me.”

Buffy smirked. “That’s not exactly a new thing. Besides,” She indicated the lavish room with a wide sweep of her arm, “why should we trust you when you’re playing king of the evil law firm?”

“Because it’s me. You know me.”

She looked from Angel to Spike, bitterness touching her eyes. “Well, apparently you don’t know me.”

“So death didn’t agree with you either, huh?” Dawn’s voice was tentative as she came to stand beside Buffy and there was barely a shadow of the awkward teenager she had been. Her hair hung around her shoulders in curly waves. She was a young woman, mature and fully capable of taking on the world.

She was also pretty smart and had stepped forward at the first sign of a Buffy rant. It was almost Christmas and the yelling and the accusations could wait until after the New Year.

“Looks like.” Spike’s smile was tentative too; things had been strained between them ever since she had promised to set him on fire. It was understandable. He wasn’t holding any grudges, at the moment he had wanted her to, he had deserved it.

Dawn ducked her head and Faith chose that moment to join them, her grin cheeky and filled with mirth. “What’s up, bloodsuckers?” she greeted Angel and Spike, slinging an arm around Buffy’s shoulders. “Are you all behaving yourselves?”

Angel’s eyes softened for a moment and suddenly he looked tired, turning to Buffy. “So, is this everyone or did the whole gang come?”

“Well, Giles said fieldtrip and we all rushed to get our permission slips signed.” Xander came to stand beside Dawn, dressed all in expensive black clothes and a strand of hair falling over the eye patch he wore. “Because we were just so eager to see your little evil overlord set up.” He shook his head, sighing. “We heard Dead Boy took over Evil Incorporated and decided, gee this can’t be good.”

“Apparently, he’s working from the inside to make a difference,” Dawn informed him in a loud whisper, a touch of steel in her voice and her eyes wide and innocent.

“Ohhhh.” Xander drew it out comically. “Shucks and we thought you were going to be corrupted.” He tried looking apologetic. “Sorry about that, we’ll just go and trust you not to use all the resources you have to burn the world to the ground.”

“Enough, you two.” Buffy was biting back a grin and her eyes were filled with warmth as she looked from her sister to Xander as she stood there, standing across from Angel and flanked by her friends, her family. It might be his home turf but they had the most firepower. The most firepower that was now coming to stand beside Xander, looking confused at the animosity between the two groups, and not even a little surprised to see Spike not dusty.

“Did I miss something?” Willow asked curiously. Seeing the looks Angel was sending Xander, she shook her head. “Oh, I get it. Hi, merry Christmas.” She smiled brightly. “Does anyone know where Fred and Wesley are? Fred wants me to take a look at this new mystical doodad and we figured, what better place than your non-Jewish friendly Christmas party?”

Angel opened his mouth to defend himself against Xander’s accusations but was distracted by that. “When did you and Fred talk?”

“Chat, online. About three times a week.”

Something caught Dawn’s eyes and she turned to watch as a boy about her age came around the corner talking to the man that she recognized as Gunn. He had brown wavy hair and was tall and fit. He looked so familiar. “Hey,” She turned to Angel, “who’s that with Gunn?”

Angel followed her eyes to Connor and his mouth thinned as he tried to say, casually, “No one, probably just one of the client’s kids.” He turned back to Buffy, trying to change the subject. “So what test do I have to pass to prove I’m not evil? Is there a written exam, multiple choice questions? Any pictures you want me to look at?”

Dawn nudged Xander, tilting her head to where the boy was now standing. Xander’s brow furrowed in confusion and he mouthed ‘What?’

“What are we suppose to think?” Buffy ground out, exasperated. “You’re suddenly in charge of the place you’ve been fighting against for years. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

‘C’mon,’ Dawn mouthed back, grabbing onto his arm. He rolled his eyes as she dragged him away from the Buffy and Angel show, an argument he had waited a long time to see and was really enjoying, just to look at a boy.

“Hi,” Dawn greeted the boy cheerfully. “I’m Dawn and this is Xander. So, who are you and have we ever met?”

“I don’t think so.” Connor’s smile was strained. “My name’s Connor. My Dad is the CEO of this place.”

“Whoa,” Xander breathed out. “Dead Boy’s your Dad?”

Someone bumped into Xander and a ridiculously tall man grimaced. “Excuse us,” he said as he followed a shorter man to where the elevators were.

“Rude much?” Dawn muttered before turning back to Connor. “So you’re Angel’s kid? Angel, vampire with a soul and unable to reproduce? That Angel, right?”

None of them noticed as the two men slipped into the private elevator that led up to Angel’s office.


	2. Part Two

**PART TWO**

 

 _It came upon the midnight clear,  
That glorious song of old,  
From angels bending near the earth,  
To touch their harps of gold:  
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men  
From heavens all gracious King!"  
The world in solemn stillness lay  
To hear the angels sing._   


 

“How is running over people lying low?” Sam demanded as he moved behind the desk pulling open the closest drawer.

This was definitely one of the more interesting Christmases they had spent together. It had always been putting it together for him. Dean who had gone out in the middle of the night and snatched a tree off one of the lots nearby. Dean who had always saved money from whatever job he had picked up in the new towns or whatever games he had hustled at the local bar for a few small gifts to wrap in newspaper and put under the tree.

Dad had tried a couple years. He had tried every year when he wasn’t on a hunt, or healing from a hunt, or researching a hunt, or drunk. He had tried but Dean had always done it best and when Sam was old enough he had tried giving something back.

Still, it was their first Christmas in over four years and it was Dean who was trying. Who had set up a small fake tree in their room and who had put some eggnog in the mini fridge. His brother had even broken out a couple of old Christmas cassettes.

“That was an accident,” Dean muttered as he knelt down to check under one of the couches “who the hell stands in the middle of the room anyway. What are we looking for again?” He demanded standing up, pulling on the collar of his sweater. It wasn’t leather and for some reason that was throwing him off.

“Anything that proves that this place isn’t exactly interested in justice.” Sam murmured as he pulled out a stack of papers and put them on the desk, flipping through them carefully. He made sure to keep them in the same order and he only scanned the paragraphs looking for anything that screamed of the end of the world or bloodshed.

“What about that?” Sam glanced up and looked behind him to the wall that Dean was pointing out.

“The guy has a freaking arsenal on his wall.” Dean groused “Who does that?” It didn’t stop him from quitting his pursuit on dust bunnies and start examining the intricate swords and axes mounted on the wall behind the desk. His hand curved around one of the swords and he grasped it, testing its weight as he pulled it down.

“Dean,” Sam sighs exasperated “what if that had been hooked to an alarm?”

Dean’s eyes widened slightly before the corners wrinkled up as he smirked “But it wasn’t.” He points out, moving the sword from one hand to another, watching the gleam of the blade as the lights from overhead play on it. “So you find anything yet?”

“No,” he went back to the papers sparing a glare for his brother who was playing with the sword and not really paying attention. Sam finally settled on a sentence, one sentence in a packet of documents and his whole body tensed. It was a contract. For the CEO of L.A’s branch of Wolfram and Hart.

Under a fancy signature was what Sam had been looking for.

 _Angelus, aka. Angel. Vampire_

“Dean.” Sam implored slightly and his brother was by his side in an instance, sword in one hand, the other reaching for the paper in his brother’s hands. “What’s this?”

“The contracts for the new team running this place.”

 _Charles Gunn, aka Gunn. Human_

 _Winifred Burkle, aka Fred. Human_

 _Wesley Wyndam-Price, aka Wes. Human_

 _Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, aka Lorne. Demon_

 _Angelus, aka Angel. Vampire_

“Well Sammy, what have you got us into now.” Dean muttered taking more time to scan the information provided on each team member. What position they held and how they had gotten to that. He paid special attention to Angelus, a name he had come across in libraries and old Hunter journals. Vampires weren’t supposed to exist anymore but there was still traces of one named Angelus. They hadn’t let themselves forget about him, they had convinced themselves that vampires were extinct but they hadn’t stopped searching for Angelus.

Dean’s mouth thinned and his hand clenched around the sword.

“So, what do we do?” Sam took back the papers sorting them carefully and putting them back in the drawer. “Angelus isn’t a Hunt, he’s a war.”

Dean shifted the sword in his hand again, his wrist twisting as it slid through the air in a slow circle. He chewed on the corner of his lip before sighing “Well, one thing's for sure. This isn’t going to be taken care of in one day. Looks like we’ll be spending our Christmas trailing after the bloodsucker.”

He moved to set the sword back on the wall making sure it was balanced right and that’s when the door to the office opened. Sam and Dean exchanged a quick panicked looked and they moved together quickly knowing it was too late to get out of there.

A curly blond head peaked through and heavily done up eyes widened as she took them in. “What are you doing in the boss’s office?”

“Us?” Dean’s smile widened the more nervous he got and he stepped in front of Sam and closer to the woman “Me and my colleague here were just looking around,” he ducked his head lightly looking guilty as his eyes locked on the woman’s and lies slipped from his lips easily “we wanted to see where all the big decisions were made in this place.”

“Well,” she looked a bit unsure and her hand went to her light pink clad hips “you’re not supposed to be here, and there is a private elevator so you shouldn’t have been able to get up here, Busters.”

Dean’s smile shifted into a smirk and his eyes gleamed. “I’m awfully sorry.” He smiled at her “I would hate it if you got in trouble because of me.” He moved closer to her and her eyes were locked on him as Sam was once again just a part of the furniture.

“I’m Harmony,” the blond offered, looking Dean up and down, pushing her breast forward to draw attention to them “I’m Angel’s secretary.”

“I love the suit.”

“Harmony, do you know if Angel keeps the file on the…” Fred trailed off as she saw who Harmony was talking to and her brow furrowed in confusion, caution in her eyes “I didn’t know Angel was meeting with anyone tonight.”

Before Dean could say anything and spin this so they could get out of there, Harmony replied brightly “He doesn’t, they were just looking around at his office.”

“How did they get up here?” Fred was looking at them suspiciously and Dean shifted from one foot to the other, looking at Sam quickly. They were screwed.

“We were just leaving.” Dean offered, helpfully tugging on Sam’s sleeve to get him moving towards the exit. Sam shuffled his feet, tugging on the collar of his jacket and moved to follow his brother when the elevator down the hall pinged.

Dean and Sam stilled in the middle of the hallway, eyes focused intently, still aware of Harmony and Fred at their backs. Dean’s hand brushed against his sweater feeling the slight indention of the gun and it reassured him to an extent.

Beside him Sam was doing the same.

Angel and Spike got off the elevator followed by Buffy, Willow, and Wesley. Faith had decided to do some mingling downstairs. The tension between Buffy and Angel looked about ready to break. Spike was edging around the two, not sure where his place was in all this.

“Hey, did you find the file?” Willow asked with a tight smile, aware of the tension behind her.

Dean and Sam just stood there and Dean flinched when Fred told them.

“I didn’t have time to; these guys were in Angel’s office snooping around.”

When all eyes turned to them Dean just smiled, nervously licking his lips “Hi.”

 

~*~

 

They were all in Angel’s office and whatever had been going on between Buffy and Angel seemed to have been forgotten. Or at least put on the back burner until after they were done interrogating the two guys that had broken into the office.

The conference room’s doors had been opened and usually where there was a long table, a huge tree stood decorated by Angel’s team and the not-so-evil clients. There were a few presents under the tree but it was the lights that caught everyone’s eyes. Fred and Wesley had worked together to make magical Christmas lights with the latest technology.

Usually everyone asked a million questions about them but no one in the room seemed to even notice the flashing bulbs.

Dean and Sam were currently leaning against the wall trying to look nonthreatening as the vampire and British guy laid into them, trying to find out why they were there and who they were.

“I told you, our company does a lot of the maintenance for the lower levels.” Sam explained patiently, his voice low and sure. His palms were faced upwards in the universal sign of surrender and his forearm brushed against the gun hidden beneath his jacket. Guns were about as useful on vampires as they were on demons but it could give them a bit of time if they had to get out of there fast.

“You’re lying.” Angel ground out, his voice deceptively calm and his eyes were moving between the two of them, narrowed in suspicion. “Who do you work for?”

“Us?” Dean smirked letting his dislike show through “We don’t work for anyone, we’re more like freelancers. Ridding the world of scum like you.”

“You’re Hunters.” Buffy blurted out suddenly and when everyone was looking at her, she looked sheepish “They’re Hunters, humans, big into guns and knives and the well trained ones are better than most of the mini-Slayers.” She shrugged, looking a bit self-conscious “The Council has hired a couple due to most of the Watchers being blown up or gutted.”

“Well as interesting as this isn’t, what the hell do you know about us?” Dean demanded and by the way his hand was twitching at his side he was itching to grab his gun “And don’t think just cause you know a couple of Hunters means we’re going to be buddy-buddy, you’re hanging out with vampires.”

“I’m a Slayer.” Buffy argued “and the vampires have souls so they're good, for the most part.” she shoot a quick look at Angel “And to be honest I don’t know anything about you other than that you're Hunters.”

“I’m Sam Winchester,” Dean looked at him sharply “and this is my brother Dean. We’re actually here investigating the new CEO of Wolfram and Hart.”

“What the hell man?” Dean demanded angrily “Is there anything else you want to tell them? How about where we’re staying? You want to tell them that?”

Willow’s eyes went wide “Oh, Winchester.”

“What?” both Dean and Sam demanded at once, Dean’s voice rough and Sam’s just curious.

“It’s just... the Council has a record on the Winchesters, and the demon you’re hunting.”

 

~*~

 

“But they broke into my office, they touched my things.” Angel argued morosely leaning against his desk, his arms folded across his chest. His suit jacket had long since been tossed on the back of the chair and he was glaring at where Buffy and Willow were having what looked like an intense conversation with the Winchester brothers.

They had eggnog, and Buffy was smiling.

For a split second it had seemed like she was ready to trust him but then Xander and Dawn had walked in with Connor and revealed that he was Angel’s son, making the chance of her not believing the worse of him disappear.

Apparently, having a kid wasn’t a secret you kept from your ex when you are trying to convince them that you were being completely truthful with them. It wasn’t even like he was lying. Buffy had never come straight out and asked if he had a kid.

And she had never asked him if Spike was back.

Spike who was watching Buffy in a way that had Angel’s hands clenching into fists at his sides and his eyes narrowing on the other vampire.

It wasn’t helping his mood any that Connor and Xander seemed to be getting along and Connor was talking about heading to the Council base in Cleveland to look into being trained as a Watcher. Angel adored Dawn but she was putting ideas in his son’s head that he didn’t want to be there.

His son as a Watcher.

He didn’t like the idea at all, especially when it meant Connor would be spending a lot of time away from him and being trained by Xander Harris.

The only thing that kept him from kicking everyone out of his office was the possibility that when Buffy and the others left they would be taking Spike with them. While he didn’t relish the idea of Spike being anywhere near Buffy, it would mean that Spike wasn’t anywhere near him.

Angel leaned his head back against the wall and he couldn’t help but notice the way Fred curved her body into Wesley’s and the tender smile on her lips. She looked happy, they both did. So did Connor, he held himself differently when he was talking to Xander and Dawn. He looked peaceful, his eyes didn’t show the horror of the life that Angel hadn’t been able to erase. Instead it showed a determination of a man ready to make a difference.

Quite a few of the gifts under the tree were for Connor. CDs, clothes, and quite a few weapons. There was also a passport there, and a checking account. Angel hadn’t expected him to use it to take off to the Hellmouth but he had wanted it to be there in case Connor ever needed it.

He watched as Buffy handed the Winchesters a card and knew that whatever business they had been discussing was over. Apparently, the Council was always recruiting now and was actually helping out those that needed it instead of getting in their way.

“So give us a call if you guys ever get into a tight situation or need some legal help.” He heard Buffy tell them as the older brother slipped the card into his back pocket. “Good luck with finding your Dad and we’ll call you when we find out more about your demon.”

“Thank you.” the taller of the two offered sincerely and they didn’t even bother with goodbyes as they slipped out of the office, the younger of the two following his older brother. There was a loyalty there that Angel knew would end up badly for one or both of them.

It was the same loyalty he saw when Buffy squeezed Dawn’s shoulder as she walked past and the girl give her older sister a brief smile before turning back to her conversation with Connor. That loyalty had gotten Buffy killed.

It was why when Connor told him, he would let him go.

Because when it came to family there was a different set of rules.

Angel smiled as he watched Wesley whisper something in Fred’s ear that made her look at the mistletoe with a blush touching her cheeks.

This had certainly been one interesting Christmas party. Next year though, he would make sure to double check the guest list.

 

 **THE END**


End file.
